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submitted 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago) by homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

On Saturday night’s episode of MSNBC’s The Weekend: Primetime, Hylton spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul—an Obama appointee—about Trump’s summit with Putin in Anchorage on Friday.

“A lot of the press corps that was there, they reported in the minutes and hours after the presser that they saw members of the administration, like Karoline Leavitt, look ashen, almost frightened after what they had seen behind closed doors. What did that indicate to you?” Hylton asked McFaul.

McFaul responded, “We should all be glad that we did not go to Alaska, because I was in Helsinki with you. And I was in Geneva when President Biden met. They traveled a long way for nothing in return, those journalists.”

He continued, ”But that suggests to me that this was a bigger disaster than they’re letting on. To your point, they’re trying to spin it, although they’re not even trying to spin it. That’s a really interesting thing.”

”When I worked at the White House and we would have meetings like this, I was the SAO—the senior administration official—that would call up journalists, that would call The New York Times to say, ‘This is what was discussed,’ to push it this way. They’re not even attempting to do that because they know they don’t have anything to work with.”

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[-] ubergeek@lemmy.today 1 points 11 minutes ago

She looks ashen because she was sold to a Russian oligarch as a part of the deal.

[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 131 points 16 hours ago

We're owned by Russia and Putin came in there just making demands while Trump groveled. Thats what happened. The US President groveled to the Kremlin. Enjoy your meals.

[-] KnitWit@lemmy.world 61 points 15 hours ago

Yep. Everyone in that room was owned, but didn’t think much of what that meant until then. That one report by the fox news lady right afterwards was blunt as hell when describing the whole situation. ‘It was not good.’

[-] YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 24 points 16 hours ago

They finally learned the truth?

[-] prole 1 points 20 minutes ago* (last edited 20 minutes ago)

Oh, honey. No...

[-] not_that_guy05@lemmy.world 26 points 15 hours ago
[-] doben@lemmy.wtf 8 points 13 hours ago

Maaan, I thought the US was owned by Israel? This is so confusing. Did Israel sell the US to Russia now? Is Congress owned by Israel and the President by Russia? Please, informed users of the fediverse, put forth an honest, coherent analysis.

And no „Deranged Orange Pedo“ and „Pootin“ don‘t count, sorry.

[-] ubergeek@lemmy.today 1 points 10 minutes ago

Did Israel sell the US to Russia now?

We're mercenaries up for sale to the highest bidder.

[-] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 7 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

maxwell's dad was a mossad tool. all of epstein's grandparents came from russia.

Trump sure does seem damned cozy with Putin. Russian banks are all over the Epstein finances.

https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden_letter_to_doj_-_follow_the_money_on_jeffrey_epstein_7-21-25pdf.pdf

"Investigate the role of sanctioned Russian banks in the financing of Epstein’s sex trafficking activities. The Treasury Department’s Epstein file contains information indicating that Epstein used several now sanctioned Russian banks for hundreds of millions of dollars in wire transfers. It appears that these wire transfers were correlated to the movement of women or girls around the world."

[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

You got fucken schooled by that other user. It is really that simple. Money makes many kings possible.

[-] phdepressed@sh.itjust.works 27 points 12 hours ago

Think of it like stock ownership of a company. Putin having Trump means he's got the biggest stake. Israel via aipac and others has another large stake. Other countries have their own number of stakes. See if Israel and Russia argue about something which side the traitors put us on.

[-] prole 2 points 19 minutes ago

Is this what they meant by, "run the country like a business"?

[-] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 60 points 15 hours ago

They watched him dementedly barf out a bunch of national security secrets because Putin's his new Epstein buddy and he wanted to impress him with how much he knew.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.world 33 points 15 hours ago

Let's see the possibilities are 1. Trump completely caved 2. Trump and Putin divided up Ukraine like Poland 3. Trump showed dementia.

Now 2 they might actually be excited, so maybe take that one off the list.

[-] ubergeek@lemmy.today 1 points 9 minutes ago

Well, Trump also sold off a bunch of Alaska too, to Russia, as a part of the "Deal".

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 12 points 13 hours ago

This time around the administration is doing a better job keeping it's people believing, but it makes sense that some of them will start to crack

[-] Tm12@lemmy.ca 16 points 14 hours ago

She ashy AF before that meeting.

[-] tisktisk@piefed.social 17 points 15 hours ago

What did I just read? What does it mean to look 'ashen'? I'm assuming it's not a compliment

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 11 minutes ago

Imagine someone’s face after just being told they have cancer. That’s “ashen”. Shocked, pale, scared.

[-] deranger@sh.itjust.works 53 points 15 hours ago

Pale, grey, dull. Low blood flow to the skin. It’s not at all a compliment, quite the opposite. Pallor is the medical term.

[-] J92@lemmy.world 25 points 14 hours ago

To add to what the other person said, another phrase could be, "looked like they'd seen a ghost."

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 8 points 14 hours ago

Honestly this screams of "[politician] SLAMMED by comment" when the comment was effectively "I don't agree with [politician]".

Are there pictures of these "ashen" staff?

[-] lectricleopard@lemmy.world 22 points 11 hours ago

The guy is saying he used to be in her shoes and that she was acting odd after this meeting. Her body language immediately following the meeting was cause enough for concern. Then, they didn't try to push the narrative around the topic of conversation during this meeting, showing to him that the conversation was about topics that they wouldn't want discussed at all in the media.

He's an expert, giving his expert opinion. That doesn't mean he's right, but he's not talking out of his ass for no reason.

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago

"Ashen" implies a visual indication. It's not too much to assume there'd be photos.

[-] prole 1 points 17 minutes ago

I'm not sure the concept of someone "looking like they just saw a ghost" always translates well in photograph form. And it's more than just the pallid color, there's all sorts of subtle micro movements and stuff that we might not even consciously register to indicate something is off, that doesn't translate to photograph.

[-] lectricleopard@lemmy.world 6 points 10 hours ago

I guess you're right. I dont see why it matters if the ashen description is accurate. I take all the news and editorials with a large grain of salt.

this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025
189 points (100.0% liked)

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